EAA Summit June 2024 – Conclusions

Balancing mission with margin to drive industry transformation

On the back of the United Nations Secretary General’s public call for a fossil ad ban across the advertising industry, Creatives for Climates gathered 150+ agency and climate leaders to convene and share solutions to transform the industry into a force for climate action. 

The fourth annual summit of the scaling NGO, and the first one focussed on agency transformation, attracted leaders to The Netherlands from neighboring countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark.

The Summit marked the transformation of Creatives for Climate from a community focused on capacity building to an NGO providing positive pathways and transition plans for agencies to take meaningful climate action - following the publication of its 2023 Impact Report and the launch of its Creative Climate Toolkit.

Key lessons of the night

1.Creatives are looking for opportunities to align their career with their values. 

A recent Kite Insights report confirmed that 83% of respondents are ready to take climate action at work and this was reflected during the event, when an interactive poll asked: “have you ever left a job or said no to a brief because of misalignment with the company or projects values” to which 80% of the audience raised their hands. 

Speaking from an employee’s perspective, Creatives for Climate Copenhagen City Lead Fiona O'Grady opened the night painting a picture of ‘ethical dilemmas’ confronted by creatives in an industry operating at the ‘sharp end’ of capitalism, echoing many of the struggles of individuals working within the industry while trying to ‘do the right thing.’

2. Advertising affects our minds and leads to brain pollution more than we think.

Andrew Simms,  Director of New Weather Institute and Founder of Badverting campaign and Rapid Transition Alliance, revealed insights on the influence of advertising in shaping our behavior and minds, and made a case for challenging the ‘social license’ of business to use public spaces to sell us more things. 

He raised a very valid question to the audience: what is the role of advertising at a time when driving less consumption to reduce emissions? He made a call to create campaigns that foster transformational change!

3. We need an immediate ban on fossil fuel advertising to secure a liveable future. 

Martine Dopper, Campaigner at Reclame FossielVrij walked the audience through the history of fossil fuel propaganda and the history of the craft of PR as an invention of those responsible for the crisis we are now in.

“The fossil fuel industry helped to create the PR industry, and publicists came up with disinformation and manipulation tactics that they deployed for oil, tobacco, and chemical companies for decades.” 

She soundboarded the fact that global emissions come directly from fossil fuel production and that giants such as BP and Shell knew of the causal link between… as far back as 1919. 

Martine wrapped up her talk with a relevant message for those in the industry who want to move away from misleading PR and comms: ‘if confusion is your goal, mixed messages are a very effective strategy’.

4. Leading organizational change demands a strategy to engage all stakeholders. 

Luke Purdy, Director of Sustainability at Wieden+Kennedy, shared lessons on being an ‘intrapreneur’ within global agency Wieden & Kennedy and his roadmap for achieving BCorp status.

He outlined his strategy by working to align sustainability goals with company values, celebrating small wins and making them visible to all, developing an internal sustainability Hub to transfer knowledge and skills between employees within the company, and maintaining perseverance and patience to drive long-term change. 

Some clear recommendations from him to lead organizational change: 

🔑 Context is key: explain the what and why before getting to the how. 
🤔 Consider how you socialize new initiatives to different stakeholders. Make people feel heard.
💡 Sustainability needs creative thinking to inspire action. Craft your content.
🗣️ Good communication is good practice. Celebrate wins. 
🧠 Passion + Company knowledge can go a long way. You don’t need a degree to get started.

5. Values-driven agencies attract high-quality talent and retain long-term relationships with clients, but leading sector transformation can be lonely.

A panel moderated by Patrick van Haperen, leading industry creative director, along with values-driven agency founders, opened up an honest conversation about the journey of championing mission while balancing margin, offering inspiration on new models of leadership and value-creation. They also shed light on the challenges of saying no to unethical client work while growing a business. 

Closing the panel, there was a call for the power of creativity to scale solutions and case studies shared to accelerate the collective reimagination of the role of effective marketing, branding and communication in driving change.

Here is what we heard from each panelist: 

Susanne Volder, Founder of Friends for Brands, outlined that you can be a friend who helps to push and create movement for the stories of others.

Joss Ford, Founder of Enviral, emphasized the importance of asking the question ‘at what costs?’

Adrian Ma, Founder of Fanclub PR, highlighted the significance of staff loyalty, group power, and the need for accountability within agencies.

Marlous van den Hoogen, Impact PR Manager at Blyde Benelux, explained how the company integrates environmental considerations into every decision by positioning Mother Nature as their CEO.

5. Anti-greenwash regulation is coming thick and fast, but is a creative opportunity not a barrier to communication.

Ethical Agency Advisor Top Tapper Co-Founder and CEO of Nice & Serious urged agencies in the audience to say NO to polluting clients to make way for values-aligned briefs that will give leaders the opportunity to accelerate in this movement. 

He challenged the idea that agencies can take on ‘morally dubious clients’ and drive change from within, stating that … “saying NO takes courage. Saying NO can have a short term cost, but saying NO also frees up your time and headspace to say YES to a better brief; one that aligns with the world you want to create.”

Launching the Anti-greenwashing handbook 

Following the event, a free first-of-its-kind handbook was launched to help agency leaders respond to the ever-growing regulatory changes and accelerate action towards an industry in service of climate solutions. 

The Anti-greenwashing handbook is designed for agencies of all shapes and sizes to tackle greenwashing, understand the limits of the law, and make steps to transform to drive positive action.

A recording from contributors Johnny White from Client Earth and Victoria Hurth, independent pracademic, shared with the audience the call for a collective action (see video here The Greenwash Watch Handbook)

A recording of the Summit will be released in the weeks to come on the Creatives for Climate knowledge Hub to spread knowledge and momentum for the movement further. 

Stay tuned 👀

With thanks to our partners at the Art Directors Club Europe (ADCE), Clube da Criatividade de Portugal as part of the Green Futures project Co-Funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.